Ecclesiastes 7:29–8:17

²⁹“Behold, I have found only this, that ^aGod made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

Chapter 8

Obey Rulers

¹Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom ^aillumines ¹him and causes his ^bstern face to ²beam.

²I say, “Keep the ¹command of the king because of the ^aoath ²before God.

³“Do not be in a hurry ^1ato leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.”

⁴Since the word of the king is authoritative, ^awho will say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵He who ^akeeps a royal command ^bexperiences no ¹trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

⁶For ^athere is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man’s trouble is heavy upon him.

⁷If no one ^aknows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

^8aNo man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and ^bevil will not deliver ¹those who practice it.

⁹All this I have seen and applied my ¹mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised ^aauthority over another man to his hurt.

¹⁰So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are ^asoon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.

¹¹Because the ^asentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore ^bthe hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.

¹²Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may ^alengthen his life, still I know that it will be ^bwell for those who fear God, who fear ¹Him openly.

¹³But it will ^anot be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a ^bshadow, because he does not fear God.

¹⁴There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are ^arighteous men to whom it ¹happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are ^bevil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

¹⁵So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for ^aa man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his ¹toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶When I ^agave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should ^1bnever sleep day or night),

¹⁷and I saw every work of God, I concluded that ^aman cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and ^bthough the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover.